Sport 1000 from Ducati
is built on nostalgi, and one of many retro models that several brands has put
out on the marked over the last years. This bike is built for those who want to
own something a little different.

The bike has
a nostalgic look from the time when "Cafè Racers" was the bad boys of the
streets, a stile created by young rebels in the seventies. Today's retro
builts is up to date with modern bikes when it comes to engine, frame
and brakes. Making them easy to drive, and much safer than the original.

The look

It has a
naugthy look, the flat black silencers, black frame, bright red paintjob with
the white stripe on top and bar end monted mirriros. It is a very long reach
to the bars, which makes the driving position more aggressive than a
supersport bike. As with the Monster, monting the silencers above each other
on the same side is not good looking, it should have one on each side. But on
this bike it looks a little better than on the Monster, and if you get the US
version it has on black silencer on each side, which I think looks best.

Power plant

An aircooled
v-twin engine on 60 cubic inches or 992 ccm is the heart of the bike,
developing 92 break horsepower it is not the fastes bike. The clutch is of the
noisy dry type, and the gear box has all six gears. But the gearing of the
bike is so tall that you can not use 6th gear unless you are doing over 60
mph. The dealer say that most of these bikes are sold with one less tooth on
the front sprocket, to make it more adjusted to Norwegian speed limits.

On the road

As I sit
down on the bike I find the driving position to be exstreme, and the wrist's
are feeling the weight of the upper body. But as I slide down against the tank
and leans forward to grab the handel bars I squeeze my personals bad, I swear
and stands up to give them some room. After a little while I sit down again,
more carefully this time, and when we get out on the open road we are good
friends again.

The engine
pulls strong from about four thousand rpm's, but under three thousand it is
not comfortable. But the strange thing is that there is no red field on the
rev counter. So the first times I run it flat out thru the gears, I had little
clue to where to throw in the next gear, and several times I hit the rev
limiter before I remember where the limit is. This should have been fixed by
marking the rev limit in one way or another.

Ducati
really knows how to make bikes that are lusting after roads that twist
themself thru the Norwegian country side, and Sport 1000 is no exception. The
suspension absorbs the uneven surface very well, also when going thru turns,
and that gives the driver the opportunity to truly enjoy the twisty roads. But
the extreme driving position makes the wrist's sore quite fast. Trying to make
the wind lift some of the weight of the hands I had to get very close to the
hundred mile per hour mark, and as we all know, that is not legal at all here
in Norway. And the excuse; "Hey mister police man, I can explain this; "You
see, the bike was hurting my wrist's, so I had to go so fast to make the pain
go away. And if you are going to punish anyone it must be the Italian's for
making the bike like this...!". Then bring on a hugh smile, as the officer
takes your driver licens away for about a year, and slaps you with a $1.500
fine. But if you did get pulled over going that fast, you can at least put
your trust in the quite good breaks that it has.

Conclusion

The exstreme
driving position is the biggest draw back for this bike. But Ducati have
succeeded making a thru retro Cafè Racer that will stand out when lined up
with other bikes. And at the same time it has all the modern stuff to give it
a modern feel when you drive it. It is easy to flick from one side to another
when ripping thru your favorite twisty road, and at higher speeds it also
feels stabil.

The facts:

Engine:
60 cubic inches /
992 ccm

Engine
type:Air cooled v-twin

Horsepower:
92 hp at 8.000 rpm

Torque: 91,1
nm at 6.000 rpm

Fueltank:
3,95 gallons /
15 liters

Front tyre:
120/70 R 17

Rear tyre:
180/55 R 17

Dry weight:
402 Ibs / 179 kilo

MSRP:
$11.500

Thank you so mutch
Løvaas Motor for very good
service and some nice hot coffee in the morning :-))